Hockey Handicapping Articles

NHL Trade Deadline Predictions And Analysis
by T.O. Whenham - 2/21/2011

If you are an American hockey fan and have never watched or followed Canadian coverage of the NHL trade deadline then you really need to. It’s a spectacle. We take this day really seriously up here - thing NFL draft day in the States. There is wall-to-wall coverage all day, and six million people dissect every move. It’s all frankly ridiculous, but also kind of fun. Beyond being a spectacle, though, the NHL trade deadline - which is typically by far the busiest of any trade deadline in major sports - can be very helpful for bettors because of the insights it offers.

NHL Handicapping: Pittsburgh Penguins Struggles
by T.O. Whenham - 2/18/2011

Injuries and player absences are a frustrating but inevitable part of hockey. In the case of the Pittsburgh Penguins, though, things are totally out of hand. The last time Pittsburgh played a game they were missing eight forwards that played on opening night. Given that a team only has 12 active forwards at a time, that’s obviously a significant impact. Never mind that one of those forwards, Sidney Crosby, is the best hockey player on the planet, and another, Evgeni Malkin, is easily in the top t10 in the world. Or that in the absence of those guys, one of the guys who would be asked to carry an extra load, Chris Kunitz, is out as well.

NHL Betting: Hot and Cold Teams for Handicapping
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 2/2/2011

The Flames are finally starting to heat up, and not even the all-star break could cool them off. Calgary is 7-1-2 in its last 10 games, giving $100 bettors a total profit of $607 in just over two weeks. The profitable streak was highlighted by a 4-3 shootout win at Vancouver on Jan. 22 when the Flames were +220. Even after the three-day layoff due to the All-Star Game, the Flames opened the second half of the season with another win as a road underdog, winning 3-2 in a shootout at Nashville as +120 underdogs.

Tips and Advice for Betting the NHL All-Star Game
by T.O. Whenham - 1/28/2011

Sports bettors don’t like uncertainty, and they really don’t like betting on things that they haven’t seen before -- there is no history to rely on to tell them what could happen. It’s clear, then, that the NHL didn’t plan their new format for the All-Star game with bettors in mind. Not only has this not been done in the NHL before, but it hasn’t been done in any major sport. There’s a good reason for that -- it’s a ridiculous idea. If you’ve missed it, the league has chosen two captains -- Nicklas Lidstrom and Eric Staal -- and four assistant captains.

NHL All-Star Game Fantasy Draft
by T.O. Whenham - 1/26/2011

The NHL, in its ongoing battle for more than niche relevance, has decided that the thing to do is to radically overhaul the All-Star Game format. That would be bigger news than it is if the league had any loyalty to their old format in the first place. They have typically played Eastern Conference against Western, but they have also tried other experiments like North America versus the World in the past.

NHL Picks: Tampa Bay Lightning at Florida Panthers Odds
by Darin Zank - 1/21/2011

As the NHL's regular season heads into its second half, the two Florida teams are on opposite ends of the standings in the Southeast Division. But are they really that far apart? We'll get a better idea Friday night when the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning head cross-state to skate with the last-place Florida Panthers at the Bank Atlantic Center in that hockey hotbed of Sunrise (7:30 p.m. EST).

Hockey Betting: NHL Studs and Duds
by T.O. Whenham - 1/19/2011

We are just over half way through the NHL season. There is still a lot of hockey left to play, so this is a very good time to take stock of what has happened so far, and what that tells us about what could happen the rest of the way. Here are the four teams that have been kindest to bettors so far this season, and the four that have been totally disrespectful of bettor’s money. Incidentally, just 11 of the 30 teams in the league have been profitable if you had bet on them for every game against the NHL odds, so it’s far more common that a team disappoints than that they shine.

Stanley Cup Predictions and Odds: NHL Futures Betting
by T.O. Whenham - 1/7/2011

We are halfway through the NHL season. That means that it’s a very good time to look at what we have seen so far, and where the value is in the Stanley Cup futures at this point. Here’s a look at a few of the more interesting numbers for NHL futures along with some Stanley Cup predictions (NHL odds are from BetUS):

NHL Predictions: Teams Making A Case for Playoff Spots
by T.O. Whenham - 12/1/2010

We’re only a quarter of the way through the NHL schedule, but a lot of what we have seen so far gives us an insight into what the playoffs will look like. It would seem like it is far too soon to even consider the playoffs. The truth is, though, that consistently as many as seven of the eight teams that are in playoff positions by Thanksgiving are still there by the end of the year. It’s a good time, then, to look at where the teams stand now, and if they can stay there with my NHL predictions for the playoffs:

NHL Betting: Biggest Surprises
by T.O. Whenham - 10/26/2010

We are a couple of weeks into the NHL season. It’s still too soon to get a real sense of what is going to happen in the league and which team is going to win it all. We have seen enough, though, to start to get a sense of where the betting opportunities might lie - at least for the next few weeks. It’s a good time to look at what has been particularly surprising so far in the NHL betting season. Here are six stories that spring to mind for me:

2010-11 Detroit Red Wings Predictions with NHL Futures Odds and Betting Picks
by Alan Matthews - 10/6/2010

Most NHL franchises would call a season in which they put up 102 points and won a playoff series a success, but most NHL franchises aren’t the Detroit Red Wings. You see, the Wings finished second in the Central Division to Chicago, which was the first time since 1999-2000 that the Wings didn’t win the division.

2010-11 San Jose Sharks Predictions with NHL Futures Odds and Betting Picks
by T.O. Whenham - 10/6/2010

Over the years the Sharks have been the best in the league at one thing - choking when they had everything in their favor. Year after year they have gone into the playoffs with a strong team built to succeed, and year after year they have gone home too soon. Last year they had a bit of a breakthrough - they made the conference finals - but they still weren’t quite good enough to get past Chicago. They need to take the next step, and this year is as good a time as any - they aren’t getting any younger.

2010-11 Dallas Stars Predictions with NHL Futures Odds and Betting Picks
by T.O. Whenham - 10/6/2010

The times are changing in Dallas. For as long as I can remember thinking about the Stars meant thinking about Mike Modano, Marty Turco, and Jere Lehtinen. Now all of them are gone - the legendary Modano is in Detroit, Turco has joined the defending champs in Chicago, and Lehtinen is a free agent who may end up retiring at 37. Those guys have been the face of the team for more than a decade, so now it remains to be seen if the team has any kind of face at all this year.

2010-11 Nashville Predators Predictions with NHL Futures Odds and Betting Picks
by Alan Matthews - 10/6/2010

In recent years the Nashville Predators have been stuck in NHL purgatory in that the franchise is never good enough to be a serious contender in the playoffs but never bad enough to possibly draft that franchise-changing talent at the top of the first round. The Preds have qualified for the postseason in every year but one since 2004 but still haven’t won a playoff series.

2010-11 Anaheim Ducks Predictions with NHL Futures Odds and Betting Picks
by T.O. Whenham - 10/6/2010

Entering last season the Ducks were a popular upstart pick to do some serious damage. They finished 11th, and were perhaps the biggest disappointment in the league. There were a lot of things that could be pointed to as a cause of the problems, but the biggest was the loss of Chris Pronger on defense. When the Ducks won the Cup in 2007 it was their defense that did all the heavy lifting. This year not only is Pronger gone, but now Scott Niedermayer is gone as well.

2010-11 Phoenix Coyotes Predictions with NHL Futures Odds and Betting Picks
by T.O. Whenham - 10/6/2010

Phoenix should have been lousy last year. The Coyotes had talent that looked more like it belonged in the AHL than the NHL, they were mired in ownership chaos and uncertainty, and their coach - the best player in the history of the sport - quit in the preseason. That is a whole lot of excuses they could have used, but they didn’t use any. Instead, they started strong, maintained the pace, and made the playoffs. Anyone who says that they saw that coming is lying. Last year they snuck up on teams, but this year they won’t be able to do that. Now they carry the weight of expectations on their shoulders.

2010-11 Los Angeles Kings Predictions with NHL Futures Odds and Betting Picks
by T.O. Whenham - 10/6/2010

The Kings are a very talented but very young team that accomplished more than was probably expected of them last year. In other words, they were ahead of schedule. This year they should have the foundation to build on what they have already accomplished. It’s easy to draw comparisons between this team now and the Blackhawks last year. Because of that, a lot is being made of the fact that the team tried hard to land Ilya Kovalchuk but fell short.

2010-11 Florida Panthers Predictions with NHL Futures Odds and Betting Picks
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 10/4/2010

More teams in the NHL make the playoffs, 16, than miss the playoffs, 14. So the fact that the Panthers have missed the playoffs nine consecutive seasons is hard to believe. And the fact that they have not won a playoff game since 1997 is even harder to believe.

2010-11 Tampa Bay Lightning Predictions with NHL Futures Odds and Betting Picks
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 10/3/2010

Perhaps it’s the NHL Lockout of 2004-05 to blame. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2004. They have not won a playoff series since. After their dramatic Game 7 win over Calgary in June of 2004, the 2004-05 NHL season was canceled. Any momentum generated from the championship run was lost during the 310-day lockout.

2010-11 Carolina Hurricanes Predictions with NHL Futures Odds and Betting Picks
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 10/3/2010

It always seems to be all or nothing with these Carolina Hurricanes. In their 13-year existence they have missed the playoffs seven times but they have also reached the Stanley Cup Finals twice and the Eastern Conference Finals three times. Unfortunately this year has more the look of a ‘nothing’ year than an ‘all’ year.